Safety appliance for elevator-shafts.



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T. ESMLSSON,

SAFETY APPLIANCE FOR ELEVATOR SHAFTS.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. B, 1915- Patented May 16, L916.

5] m M04, a fwdm Wm/ THEDDORE ESKILSSON', OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

SAFETY APPLIANCE FOR ELEVATOR-SE8.

specification of Letters Patent.

Patented na re, rare..

Application filed February 8, 1915. Serial No. 6,679.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that l, THEODORE Esmnsson,

a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the borough of Manhattan, city, county, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Safety Appliances for Elevator- Shafts, of which the following is a specification.

My improvements relate to means and apparatus for safeguarding elevator shafts, and particularly to elevator service in which electricity is the motive power employed in operating the car.

The object of my invention is to afl'ord simple, cheap but effective shaft door looking and unlocking mechanism, and power controlling mechanism, in which gravity is utilized to the exclusion of springs, elec trically actuated devices, and other com trivances subject more or less to deterioration from I use and wear,-permanence of efliciency being an important" factor, ob viating danger and insuring safety.

Hence the invention consists in the construction and arrangement of parts hereinafter described and claimed specifically, a distinctive feature being the use of a counterweight for each ,:door, and controlled thereby, capable when releasedby the opening of a door, and acting through the medium of linked connection rods, of overcoming the power switch weight by which.

contact is normally maintained to close the electric power circuit, all as hereinafter more fully set forth.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1, is a sectional elevation illustrating more or less diagrammatically .an elevator shaft and the practical embodiment of my invention in connection therewith; Fig. 2, a reproduction of the lower part of .Fig. 1, showing the power switch open; Fig. 3, an

enlarged detail view of the individual door locking and releasing mechanism; Fig. 4, a detail view showing'means for slidably connecting the power switch rods; Fig. 5, is a detail view of the power switch lever contact weight, '&c.

It is a well known fact that many accidents arise because elevator shaft doors are open when they should not be, and while the shaft is open. This result I attain by automatically cutting ofi the motive power, the electrical power in this case, by which the elevator 15 operated, so that the car cannot be moved in either direction until the circuit is again closed, which can only obtain when all the doors are closed as before intimated. To this end S, re resents symbolically a vertical elevator s aft of any well known construction provided with the horizontally slidable floor doors a, s

hung or supported in any suitable or well known manner. Each-door s, is provided with a latch g, the function of which is to lock the door a, in its closed position. The latch g, shown ;-in the drawings is arranged to act in conjunction with the counterweight lever a, when the latter is depressed by the roller d, as shown more particularly in Fig. 3, but this is only an incidental feature of the arrangement of parts shown not essential to the practical application of my invention. In fact any desired or well known form of door latch maybe substituted for that shown without departing from the spirit and intent of my invention in this re spect, which is not dependent upon the employment of the latch shown nor any o'ther,-a door latch being employed as an independent and well known means of holding the door temporarily in closed position. With this understanding it may be stated that the latch rod 9, is essentially a spring bolt, the spring 9', of which tends constantly to thrust the bolt upward, with its pawl 9 in position for engagement with the ratchet teeth 0, c, on the under side of the counterweight lever c, as shown clearly in Fig. 3. The latch rod 9, is provided with a handle 9 whereby to effect the withdrawal of the pawl 9 from the ratchet tooth 0', against the resistance of the spring g.

Each counterweight lever c, is pivotally supported as at 0 on a stationary part in the shaft S, adjacent to the door jamb, and its forward portion or long arm is formed with a cam surface 0 To its short arm is pivotally suspended the counterweight 0*,

by any suitable means.

6, b, are a series of link rods, one for each door .9. These are slidably connected by interlocking means, as by loops or hooks b, 6, shown upon an enlarged scale in Fig. 4-, or by any other mechanical expedient that will permit the rods 6, b, to slide one upon the other within prescribed limits.

. limits its motion in the opposite direction and maintains it in its horizontal position when depressed by the actuating roller (1, on the car door .9, as shown in Fig. 3.

a, represents any suitable device for making and breaking an electrical power circuit e, e, by which the elevator car is operated in a manner well known in the art, that shown consisting essentially of the switch lever a, fulcrumed at a", and pivotally connected with the lower extremity of the lower link rod b",the long arm of said switch lever a, being formed with the elongated slot af, (Fig.' 5,) to compensate for the radial movement of said lever. 215 Piv'otally supported on the ion arm of the switch lever a, or upon the en of the link rod b", as preferred, is the contact weight a which tends constantly to close the power circuit as shown in Figs. 1, and 5. This it accomplishes if all the doors 8, s, are shut,

under which condition the controlling or depressing rollers d,.on the doors hold their respective counterweight levers a, depressed and at rest against the stops 0, with the $5 counterweights o", raised, as in Figs. 1, and 3. Should any one of the doors a, s, be slid back, which can only be done from the interior of the car, the particular counterweight involved will be released by the withdrawal 40 of the controlling roller d, allowing the counterweight 0*,- to raise the long arm of the lever c, thereb acting on the shoulder or collar-J2 to raise the connection rod 6, or b", or both, as the case may be, and tripping the contact lever 0,, against the resistance of the contact weight a which is over- .come by the heavier counterweight 0 Thus, by way of illustration if the lowest door is opened as in Fig. 2, the lower connecting rod b, will be raised by the release of the counterweight lever 0, and will open the power circuit a, e, the connection rod 7)", sliding upon the connection rod 6, next above as v. shown. And obviously the same result will 56 obtain if any of the doors above are opened, the, particular connection rod 1), involved sliding upon that above, and raising those below, including the lower one 6*, which acts directly upon the switch lever (1. Con- 50- versely upon the closing of the door the depression roller (1, will encounter the inclined or cam surface 0 on the counterweight lever 0, (positioned against the rest 0) restoring the latter to its normal position ll ag'ainstthe rest 0, raising the counterweight 0, and allowing the previously raised connection rods 1), I)", to descend by their own weight and that of the contact weight a thereby restoring the contact lever a, to its normal position and again closing the power circuit, as in Fig. 1. It may he stated in this connection that by this method and arrangement of parts I am enabled to use a direct make and break power switch, using carbon and copper contacts, the advantages 75. of which are well known.

It is to be noted that in so far as my auxiliary power controlling mechanism is concerned, the use of springs, electro-inagnets, gearing, &c., is avoided, gravity alone being so employed as a positive force in both opening and closing the power circuit. By this means I am enabled to greatly simplify and cheapen the mechanism employed, which is substantial in structure and less likely to deteriorate or get out of order, and is less subject to wear. Furthermore there is no auxiliary electric wiring required throughout the building or shaft for effecting the result sought,as is necessary where electric door switches are used,a-nd hence my safety sys-' tem is not subject to investigation and control by a board of underwriters above the basement or ground floor where the power safety switch a, is located. I6

My apparatus is equally adapted to the requirements of an elevator shaft for two or a score or more of stories,the counterweightsc, being made proportionate to the work to be accomplished.

I have herein shown the use of depression rollers d, on the doors 8, the same being used to reduce frictional contact with the counterweight levers 0, although this is not strictly an essential feature since the roller d, repre- 106 sents practically a contact member of any kind to depress or release the counterweight lever a, substantially as and for the purpose herein set forth.

What I claim as my invention and desire 110 to secure by Letters Patent is,

' 1. In elevator shaft safety appliances of the character designated, the combination with the power switch lever of a depression member on each shaft door, a counterweight lever adapted to contact therewith, slida-bly connected link rods supported on said counterweight levers, and connecting with said power switch-lever, and a counterweight connected therewith of less weight than those attached to the aforesaid'door counterweight levers, for the purpose described.

2. In elevator shaft safety apparatus of the character designated, the combination with the power switch lever of a depression member on each shaft door, a counterweight lever adapted to contact therewith, stops limitin the extent of motion of said counterweig t levers in either direction, slidably connected link rods supported on said coun- 13o other by interlocking parts which admit of a prescribed degree of motion of one rod upon the other, the lower one of said link 15 rods bein connected with said power switch lever, and with of less Weight than those attached to the aforesaid door counterweight levers, for the purpose described.

THEODORE ESKILSSON. Witnesses:

DOROTHY MIATT, Geo. WM. MIATT.

a counterweight connected therc- I 

